Producer John
Singleton on the set of Universal Pictures' Illegal Tender - 2007

Boy from the hood
John Singleton was born and raised right in South Central, Los
Angeles on January 6, 1968. In 1992, the USC film school alumnus became
both the youngest person and the first African-American ever to land an
Academy Award nomination in the Best Director category for Boyz N the
Hood. He also earned another nomination for the picture's screenplay.

In 2003, he received
a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. John has also enjoyed tremendous
success as a producer, financing the independent feature
Hustle & Flow
(2005) which landed an Oscar for Best Song and a Best Actor
nomination for Terrence Howard.

Earlier this year,
Singleton produced another critically acclaimed film from Craig Brewer,
Black Snake Moan,
this one starring Samuel L. Jackson and Christina Ricci. Here, he shares
his thoughts about producing Illegal Tender, a revenge thriller
featuring Rick Gonzalez and Wanda De Jesus.

JS: It was a
great story. Franc Reyes pitched it to me, and I just thought it was a
really cool project. That's why I wanted to do it.

KW: Did you
have any reservations about trying to tell a Latino tale?

JS: It's not
a Latino tale. Is Baby Boy a black story? You know what I mean?

KW: Yep.

JS: It's
really just a good story with a bunch of Latinos in it. And a lot of the
Latinos in it look like us. So, it's in keeping with what I do. It may
be culturally specific, but everybody's going to want to see it, because
it's the hot thing to see. It's like how if you're Jewish, you’ll go see
Woody Allen's earlier movies, like Manhattan, and you’ll really get it
on another level. It's like how with Baby Boy, people can watch it from
afar, voyeuristically, and go, ’Wow! I can't believe people are doing
that.’ But if you know that culture, and you're of it, you're like, ’Oh
my God, that's my cousin.’ Or, ’I'm like that.’

KW: Yeah, I
think there's a certain gravitas and authenticity to your films that
make them feel a lot more realistic than most other examples of the
ghetto genre.

JS: That's
what I go for.

KW: How was
it shooting Illegal Tender in New York and Puerto Rico?

JS: It was
cool. It was just great to be out there on the streets with all these
people who added a lot of flavor. Puerto Rico was hot. The culture there
is four or five hundred years old. They used to have real pirates of the
Caribbean around that place.

KW: What's it
like for you when you're on the set as a producer as opposed to a
director?

KW: Halle's
already signed on and you're making that movie before Luke Cage?

JS: Yes.

KW: What's it
about?

JS: It about
a small town in Texas where all these black people were arrested and
railroaded for drug-dealing.

KW: Oh, I
remember that real-life case. They all were framed. It's good that
you're telling their story, like another Rosewood. Are you worried about
Illegal Tender's R rating?

JS: Why would
I worry about it?

KW: Weren’t
you shooting for a PG-13?

JS: With this
movie? Heck no, it wasn't even a consideration.

KW: Has the
backlash that brought down
Don Imus influenced you now as you go about making movies?

JS: No, not
at all. Why should that effect me?

KW: Well,
when I'm watching a movie, and I hear someone refer to a black female as
a ’ho’, I definitely flinch and feel distracted and think about Imus'
remark.

JS: But why
does it take Don Imus to make anybody watch what they say in terms of
how they talk about their own people. I don't give a damn about Don Imus.
I think black people need to check themselves. He said what he said
because he was trying to be hip and cool, and he learned that language
from us. It wasn't from a whole bunch of white people sitting around
talking about ’nappy-headed hos.’ He got too familiar.

KW: Did you
feel comfortable casting Rick Gonzalez and Wanda De Jesus, a couple of
relative unknowns, as your leads in what could prove to be breakout
roles for them?

JS: Yes I
did. Look at my other pictures. That's what I do. I use new people. And
after I use them, they become stars.

KW: Like you
did for Tyrese in Baby Boy. Now, he's in blockbusters like Transformers.
Is he attached to Luke Cage?

JS: Not yet.

KW: What's
the plan for that picture?

JS: Well, we
have a script, but we're really trying to work it out with the studio.
The studio hasn’t made a deal for it yet.

KW: Is there
anything else I should be asking you about Illegal Tender?

JS: I'm
always about what's new and what's next, not about what's happening.

I try to go to the
next level, and I don't think that a lot of African-American filmmakers
are really doing anything interesting in film right now.

JS: There's
nothing but comedies, and I'm tired of all these black men in dresses.
Every other movie has a black man in a dress, from the
Madea movies to
Norbit to Big Momma.
How come nobody's protesting that? They call them family movies, and
nobody's telling the little kids that it's kind of different for a man
wear a dress. I'm just saying that it comes to a point where, if that's
the only types of images they’re seeing, how is that informing upon
black men in America? It's as if all we can do is make people laugh and
play basketball.

KW: What
about the fact that you set so many of your movies in the ghetto?

JS: Nobody
can get on me for making ’hood movies because I'm from the hood. And I'm
the only one who has made ghetto movies that are classy, and that inform
upon what people are going through. My films are not just excuses to
make a rap soundtrack. And they’re not these chitlin’ movies either.
Baby Boy and Boyz N the Hood, as far as I'm concerned, are classics.
Those movies have our relatives in them, and for better or worse, I'm
showing a different side of reality, of how people are living. And I'm
not doing it in a nihilistic fashion, showing dysfunctionality for the
sake of dysfunctionality. I'm showing why things are this way.

KW: Yes, in
your films, you find fully developed characters exhibiting a range of
emotions and are held accountable for the consequences of their
behavior.